Shaun enrolled in the Royal Navy at 18 but his dreams of becoming a helicopter pilot were dashed when he discovered he was colour-blind

It’s an unexpected move for the 51-year-old father-of-two, who appears to have spent the last two decades keeping his private life out of the public eye.

Away from the cameras, Shaun’s life has been rocked with EastEnders’ storyline-like moments – he had a ill-fated stint as a helicopter pilot, an illicit fling with a divorced mum and battled drink issues.

Born in November 4, 1965, Shaun grew up on Parkwood, a “tough Maidstone council estate”.

He says his school days at Holy Family Infants were “traumatic” and he struggled to spend time away from his mum.

“I don’t think I ever liked school. I was quite a shy kid, still am,” he told The Independent in 2008.

“I was never sporty, a bit chubby. I was reasonably popular, but little things used to worry me.”

Shaun was given a prosthetic makeover and dressed as a woman for Channel 5’s Gender Swap

He discovered his love of singing while working as a Pontin’s Bluecoat, did a stint as an 18-30 Club holiday rep and spent a season at Camp America.

During this time, he hit the booze. “I found out I sort of had an ability to sing and then it all went a bit downhill really,” he told Celebrity Radio’s Alex Belfield in 2015.

“I started enjoying myself a bit too much with the old liquid and I lost my way a little bit.”

Shaun feared his drink problems were spiralling out of control.

He told The Guardian: “I was a mess. I meet people sometimes who I knew when I did Club 18-30 and they tell me stories of what I got up to because I can’t remember. I was on my way to becoming a chronic alcoholic.”

Shaun, then 26, was working in the Wine & Spirits section of Safeways supermarket when he launched his bid for stardom.

This kick-stared a new era for Shaun. He worked with Ricky and Stephen in the 2011 sitcom Life’s Too Short, and the 2009 film The Invention of Lying.

But Celebrity Big Brother isn’t his first foray into reality TV – in 2005 he took part in Channel 5’s Gender Swap, where he was given a prosthetic makeover and dressed as a woman, and finished third in 2007’s Comic Relief Does Fame Academy.

He’s also appeared in Inspector Morse, The Bill, Plebs and Casualty, where he was once shot of out a canon.

Shaun is a pantomime regular, and has appeared in numerous theatre productions, including Porridge and One Man Two Governors.